The Truth
by Slayerette16
Summary: Set in 2018, Jack and Erica Bing are now 14 years old and Monica and Chandler decide it's time to tell them they're adopted. Unsure of how to do it, they turn to their 4 best friends to help (Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey). The plot/events of TV show Joey are not considered canon in this story and are therefore not mentioned, everything else is consistent with the series.
1. It’s Time

"Okay guys, you wanna know why we wanted you all here today?" Monica asked the four people she loved most in the world.

"You're not getting a divorce, right?" Joey worried, panic-stricken.

"No, we're not getting a divorce." Chandler assured him.

"Well then what is it?" Rachel chimed in.

"We think it's time we tell Jack and Erica the truth." Monica revealed.

"About the adoption?" Phoebe asked.

"No about our criminal pasts-of course the adoption!" Chandler replied.

"How are you gonna do it?" Ross inquired.

"Well that's kinda what we need to figure out. And we thought you guys could help us?" Monica suggested.

These six people had come so far. They'd all met as struggling twenty-somethings just trying to make ends meet, and they were all now in their forties...and still trying to make ends meet.

Rachel worked at Ralph Lauren for a long time before eventually calling it quits when Gucci offered her the same job she'd given up, but this time in their American branch. She was now a high-flying VP of their American office, her hair was still a dirty blonde though the roots slightly more grey than they used to be.

Ross was still a palaeontology professor at the university and had been promoted to Head of the Department. He still struggled to gauge certain students' interest in his field but he didn't care. Ross and Rachel had finally tied the knot in a real wedding ceremony in 2006 welcoming their second daughter, Electra a year later. They also ended up purchasing the house next door to Monica and Chandler's in Westchester.

Phoebe stayed in the city, buying a larger apartment for her and Mike. She still played regular gigs at a variety of quirky cafes and coffee shops, her and Mike even performed as a pair occasionally. The couple had decided to have a children and after having a baby boy, Ace (who Phoebe rashly named much to Mike's dismay) they jointly realised that perhaps one was enough. They're currently paying through the roof for Ace's drum lessons (apparently he's going to be the best 10 year old drum player ever).

Joey is still hanging around being Joey really. He moved out of the apartment him and Chandler shared and into one nearer to Phoebe's new place. After his big break movie back in 2004 he began appearing in hundreds of action movies and became the token 'muscle' in many many films. Now a little older, he tends to appear as various actors' older brothers or some other kind of relative and is happy this way having landed himself a talk show on Friday nights aptly named, 'How You Doin''. On the first show he surprised Monica and Chandler with a new car, finally having written off his debt to Chandler.

As for Monica and Chandler themselves? Chandler continued to progress in advertising and his commercials have become well-known across the country. His favourite thing to do is hear people jokingly quote them in conversation, he's even employed Phoebe and Mike to write a few jingles for him. Monica has worked in tons of restaurants over the years and finally decided in 2012 that she'd had enough. Her and Chandler took all their savings and bought a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It was named 'Monica's' and business was thriving, she finally achieved her dream of completely designing her own menu and as much as she'd deny it, she loved bossing other people about!

Yep they truly had come far together and now they needed each other once again.

"Well honey, what do you want us to do about it?" Rachel asked gently holding Monica's hand.

"I don't know, okay? I just...I don't know how I'm supposed to tell my children that I'm not their mother." Monica buried her head in Chandler's chest and he rubbed her back.

"You'll always be their mother, Monica. Always. So they have someone else's chromosomes, who gives a crap? You're their mother." Ross comforted his baby sister and slowly everyone crowded around Monica enveloping her in a massive group hug.

"We'll figure this out right?" Monica asked.

"We always do." Joey smiled kissing her on the forehead.


	2. What’s in a Name?

The 6 friends had been gathered around Monica and Chandler's solid oak kitchen table for nearly an hour and were no closer to solving the problem.

"I've got an idea!" Joey leapt up pointing at the distraught couple before him.

"Well tell us!" Rachel urged.

"We write a song!" Joey grinned.

"Yeah that'd be a great idea...except we're not frickin' Sesame Street!" Chandler shot him down.

"Why don't you just be honest and tell them the truth?" Phoebe suggested.

"I know that's the best way but how do you bring up a conversation like that?" Monica sighed, reaching for Chandler's hand.

"Just sit them down and come out with it." Ross said finally.

"Like ripping off a band aid- quick and painless." Phoebe shot a knowing smile at Rachel, it was the same advice she'd told her when she was scared about telling Ross she was pregnant with Emma.

"Yeah you know what, we'll just do it, right Mon?" Chandler decided.

"Right." Monica nodded in confirmation.

And just like that, the door swung open. It was Mike, Emma, Jack, Erica, Electra and Ace.

"Hey you guys!" Mike called out.

"Hey!" The gang replied coming out to greet their kids.

"Did you have fun with Uncle Mike?" Phoebe asked Emma, Electra, Erica and Jack.

"Sure." Jack replied.

"Yeah it was great." Erica grinned linking her arm through Emma's.

"Um do you guys wanna just go upstairs and do whatever, me and Uncle Chandler wanna talk to Jack and Erica quickly." Monica guided the kids to the stairs.

"They're in trouble." Electra whispered to Ace.

"I know who's gonna be in trouble when I get my hands on you two." Joey joked chasing Electra and Ace up the stairs.

Emma rolled her eyes and sloped off behind them up the stairs.

"We'll just be in the living room guys." Chandler said as he left with Monica and the twins.

Their living room was homely but still immaculate. The squashy cream sofa Monica had had for years stood pride of place in front of the TV and her French poster still hung on the opposite wall. Her and Chandler sat down and she took a deep breath tucking a strand of her dark chocolate hair behind her ear.

They couldn't deny how much the twins looked like Erica. They both had beautiful, brown doe eyes and strikingly bright blonde hair. But their personalities were a different story. Erica was constantly cracking jokes like her dad but she had a right mouth and was always the first to stand her ground like her mother. Jack was quieter but loved to cook with Monica and read a good book.

"Have we ever told you guys who you were named after?" Monica began.

"Seriously this is what you wanted to talk about?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Just answer your mother." Chandler warned.

"Jack was named after Grandad and you once knew a girl called Erica when you were pregnant with me. Though really I don't understand that; I've never even met this girl. Why not Phoebe or Rachel?" Erica asked confusedly.

"Well you're half right." Monica nodded ignoring the question.

"Jack was named after Grandad. And we did know a girl called Erica. But she wasn't a friend of ours or someone your mother met while pregnant. In fact your mother has never been pregnant." Chandler said as delicately as he could.

"I don't understand." Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"Erica you're named after your birth mother. You guys are adopted." Monica finally said it, like ripping off a band aid. Quick and painless...right?

Read the next chapter to find out how the twins react!


	3. Q&A

"Please say something." Chandler pleaded.

"You lied to us." Jack croaked.

"No we didn't lie to you. We love you, we wanted to wait until you were ready to know the truth." Monica babbled, running to her children and reaching for their hands, both pulled away.

"You spun stupid stories of pregnancies and names. And none of it was true!" Erica got to her feet, angrily pacing.

"It's not like that." Chandler reasoned with his daughter to no avail.

"Just get out." Jack said quietly.

"What? No..." Monica looked to Erica, who just turned away.

Chandler put a hand on his wife's shoulder and steered her out of the living room.

"How'd they take it?" Rachel asked upon Monica and Chandler's reappearance in the dining room.

"They told us to get out." Monica replied, devastated.

"Maybe they just need time." Phoebe suggested.

"Could you guys talk to them?" Monica suddenly burst out.

"What are we supposed to say?" Joey asked.

"I don't know just something." Monica answered her head sinking into her hands. "I'm their mother, and they don't want me to be anymore."

Chandler pulled her into his arms and she sobbed silently. He looked at his friends with pleading eyes and they all rose to their feet.

"We'll try." Ross decided.

"Thanks, you guys." Chandler nodded, stroking Monica's hair.

The four adults left the dining room and knocked on the living room door.

"We said go away!" Erica shouted.

"It's me, Aunt Phoebe. And Joey, Rachel and Ross." Phoebe replied.

"Your parents aren't here." Joey confirmed, and slowly the door opened.

"Hey." Ross smiled.

"Why didn't they tell us?" Jack asked quietly, he hadn't moved from where he'd been sitting earlier.

"I don't know, it's a hard situation guys." Ross reasoned with his niece and nephew.

"You parents had been married 3 years and all they wanted was a baby." Rachel revealed. "Hell, your mum has wanted a baby as long as I've known her!"

"Yeah one time, she was even gonna have a baby on her own with a sperm donor!" Phoebe remembered.

"They were trying for a long time but the doctor told them they couldn't have one." Ross continued.

"So who is our real mom?" Erica demanded.

"Your real mom is that woman next door crying her eyes out!" Ross got angry then.

Rachel placed a hand on his arm and interrupted. "Your biological mom was a young girl called Erica. She was fresh out of high school and couldn't raise a child."

"And our dad?" Jack asked.

"Now that's a funny story." Joey chuckled. "For a while we thought it was this psycho guy who was in prison for killing his father with a shovel..."

Both the twins jaws dropped. "But then we found out it was just your stereotypical movie guy: captain of the football team, got a scholarship and went off to college." Joey finished.

The twins sighed in relief and Joey giggled, "Gotcha!"

"So, why'd she pick mom and dad?" Erica then asked, pointedly referring to her parents as mom and dad.

"Another good story." Phoebe laughed. "There was a mix up at the adoption agency and she thought that your dad was a doctor and your mom was a reverend-"

"She was quite religious, I think." Rachel clarified.

"Yeah," Phoebe nodded, "and your mom went along with it."

"That's how badly they wanted you." Joey smiled reassuringly at them.

"Eventually though, they told the truth. And she wasn't gonna give you guys to them. But somehow your dad convinced her." Ross shrugged.

"Yeah? Sounds like him." Jack grinned, before hurriedly stopping himself.

"Why did they want twins?" Erica asked, now rapidly firing off questions, fearing she'd never get another chance to ask.

"Ummm...they kinda didn't know you guys were twins." Rachel revealed.

"What?" Erica blurted out.

"You see...Erica she wasn't...ummm..." Ross trailed off looking around for the correct words.

"She was thick as 10 toilet seats." Phoebe announced.

Ross stared at her. "Okayyy then, yes she was...yes. And she was told about 'both heartbeats' and thought it was hers and the baby's."

Erica laughed. "Sounds like Jack."

"Hey!" Jack protested.

"And then all of sudden she was pushing out two babies and they weren't just first time parents but first time parents with two kids." Rachel finished the story.

"And they kept us both." Erica said thoughtfully.

"Yep. You guys are their children, you both are. So yes they took home both of you." Phoebe looked them in the eyes and smiled.

"Feel a little better?" Rachel asked comfortingly.

"I guess.." Erica replied.

"But I mean, we don't share any DNA. None. Biologically, we're not...theirs." Jack admitted his true feelings.

All of the friends opened their mouths to protest but they weren't sure what to say.

"Hey, do you guys think I could talk to Jack and Erica alone?" Joey wonderered.

The twins just shrugged and slowly Phoebe, Ross and Rachel filed out of the room.

"So...let me get something straight..." Joey began rather angrily.


	4. Family is Forever

"So...let me get something straight..." Joey began rather angrily. "You care that you're blonde and your parents are brunette."

"Well no-" Jack attempted to interrupt but Joey silenced him with a look.

"You care that your mum was never pregnant and that you knew a different woman for all two seconds of your life?" Joey continued.

"It's not like that, you don't understand!" Erica protested.

"You're right I don't understand! I look at you and I see them." Joey sat back down and looked intently at the twins.

"You do?" Jack said quietly.

"I do." Joey looked him in the eyes. "I see it when you bake me cookies or make me a sandwich that for some reason tastes so much better when you do it!"

Jack grinned and Joey turned to Erica. "I see it when you make a little one-liner and I laugh so hard my stomach hurts."

A smile played at the edges of Erica's mouth and Joey pressed on. "No your parents didn't make you from their DNA, but they did make you from them."

Their faces softened and they looked at each other. Joey saw the look pass between them and he dialled his tone down a little, back to the big softy they knew him as.

"Monica and Chandler were made to be parents, majority of their lives they've looked after me!" Joey laughed knowingly. "But someone or something decided that having kids wasn't gonna be easy for them. And now they've got you and after all these years you're just going to throw that back in their faces. So ask yourself this: is that what they would do?"

Back in the dining room, silence filled the air awkwardly.

"What do you think he's saying in there?" Rachel finally asked what they'd all been thinking.

"I don't know, he is Joey." Chandler chortled.

As if by magic, Joey came suddenly sauntering through the doorway, Jack and Erica in tow.

Monica and Chandler instantly jumped up. "Hey-Hi-How's-I'm...sorry." Chandler stammered.

"It's okay." Jack promised taking a seat at the table.

"Really?" Monica checked sitting back down opposite Erica.

"I mean we're not happy you lied to us...but we'll get over it." Erica's face broke into a grin.

"We're family and family's forever." Jack confirmed.

"Damn right." Joey echoed, looking around at Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, Monica and Chandler.

"Kids! Get down here!" Phoebe called loudly.

Thundering down the stairs came Ace, Electra and Emma, they bounded into the doorway closely followed by Mike.

"What's up, Aunt Pheebs?" Emma wondered.

"We just wanted to you guys to know that...you're all family. All of you. No matter what." Phoebe replied.

"Umm..sure." Emma giggled awkwardly.

"No, really. Maybe not many of us share blood..." Rachel smiled looking around, resting her eyes upon Jack and Erica. "But for all we've been through, we're more of a family than any I've ever met."

"Because families stick together." Chandler smiled, pulling his wife into him.

Slowly, everyone got up from their chairs and congregated in the middle of the room. And like some kind of magnetic pull, they dissolved into a huge group hug.

6 friends. 5 kids. 3 couples. 1 family.

And we're done! Thanks everyone for the immense amount of support and compliments I've had on this fic!


End file.
